How To Choose Consulting Company. 1. Inquire about company history. It is hard to find the company history from Dept of Labor or State employment agencies. But it is good to find about your prospective employer thru Internet, contacts, friends living in the US. It is advised not to seek employers just thru Internet search. My bad experience: It happened as I was searching for a prospective employer who could file my labor application as part of Green Card processing. I spoke with his employer in Edison, NJ and emailed my resume. He never responded to me for a year. One fine day, he emails me a copy of my labor certification and asks me to join him so he could file my I-140, eventually asking me to join his company. Most of all, he could not give me his employee referrals to inquire about his Co., so I abandoned my quest for Green Card from such employers. My sincere suggestion to all of you reading this article is not to distribute your resume and seek labor applications from such employers. If you are in mood of switching to a new employer, please be double sure that the new employer is better than the current one. 2. Inquire about company standing with Labor/Immigration department. Or Search for reviews/comments posted by (former) employees. There are few states in the US, which provide a company\quotes history and standing with state DOL. However, we do not have list of such states on hand at this time. You may want to inquire the company standing from your peers over Internet. There are some well established Forum sites like http://boards.immigrationportal.com/ Such web forums have been helpful to my family and lot of my friends. I came to know thru the above said forum that my wife\rquote s company and some other consulting companies operate from a small office suite in Nashua, NH. 3. Inquire about salary offered or payroll schedules Before you speak to your prospective employers, it is good to know about the market salary in the state/region where your employer resides. Believe it or not, few of my friends were offered salary of 48-52,000/yr in the states of CA, NJ, NY, and CT; they could not withstand the rental, health, childcare and car insurance expenses. Most of all, Inquire about the payroll cycles, taxation and deductions that will apply to your paycheck at your employer\quote place of business. There have been numerous reports of abuse by employers (so called consulting companies) with regards to not paying salaries on time, or paying salaries with three month delay. A good number of such companies have been reported to Department of Labor by their employees; and if you choose one of those companies, it is less likely you will have smooth processing of your visas. 4. Inquire about job training/placements and ability to find contracts within short span It is your right to know how well your employer will help in training and placing you for a job; there has been a trend seeking specialized skills than generic skill set over last few years. You are required to know many skills, but the client might use you for one or two skills at a time. I would suggest you to be on alert to switch to or learn new skills as often as needed. 5. Inquire about healthcare benefits for you and your family. Medical and Dental insurance will take a major chunk of your paycheck if you are not aware of your choices and it also depends on the provider and region in which you will reside in the US. It is advised to get healthcare provider and options info in advance from your employer and plan your coverage accordingly. 6. Inquire about temporary accommodation, and travel provided by the company. This is for people who are coming to the US and not accompanied by their family. Most of the consulting companies provide temporary housing and travel. It is suggested that you know of the situation so you could plan better thru your friends or contacts in the area. At last, I hope to bring some helpful information/links for our visitors soon. Contributor: Srini, works on Microsoft platform . Did Graduation from South carolina. Likes to watch sports in free time.